lemon myrtle and macadamia nut biscuits

Housemate Bella has some AMAZING biscuit recipes up her sleeve, and this is one of them. It's one of my favourites because a) LEMON MYRTLE, b) we have a lemon myrtle tree. If you don't have a lemon myrtle tree, you can just buy them ground. No pictures because they didn't really turn out but you must eat these ASAP. I'm eating one right now. 

Lemon myrtle and macadamia nut biscuits

You will need:

200g vegan margarine

100g white sugar

225g macadamias (chopped)

225g flour

some lemon myrtle leaves (fresh or dried)

If you're not using a blender, chop the macadamias and lemon myrtle leaves first. 

Method:

Preheat your oven to 200°C

Cream margarine and sugar (in a blender or with a whisk). Add your macadamias and mix until all the pieces are blended in. Mix in your lemon myrtle leaves. Add your flour. Mixture should be a bit crumbly but stick together well. 

Roll into balls roughly the size of a golf ball. Put them on a tray greased or lined with baking paper.

Bake for 10-15 mins, until they're a little bit brown on top. Wait until the tray is cool, then put them on a cooling rack.

lemon myrtle and macadamia nut biscuits

Last night I used some newly purchased ground lemon myrtle to make lemon myrtle and macadamia biscuits. They were so amazing they were immediately eaten all up, not all by me fiona is also to blame! So sadly there is no photo to share. Lamentably, this means I will simply have to make them again immediately. Maybe gluten-free.

Lemon myrtle is my favourite indigenous Australian spice, and a little bit goes such a very long way. Macadamia is a nut I always forget about, even though it tastes amazing with all sorts of things, and I only ever remember it when I'm passing through the airport and it's filled with macadamia products (because macadamias are Australian and apparently really expensive overseas).

lemon myrtle and macadamia biscuits

you will need:
240g plain white flour
100g sugar (i used raw)
200g margarine + sunflower oil (i used about 150g nuttelex and 50g sunflower oil)
1 tsp baking powder (FLAT)
1 tbl lemon myrtle (FLAT)
comfortable handful of macadamias

oven: 200C

Cream together the sugar with the oily things until looking good and fluffy. Add the flour, baking powder and lemon myrtle, and combine until lovely and smooth. I ended up having to rub it all together with my hands, but that brought it together beautifully. Crush or chop the macadamias and mix into the rest of it. Roll into circles and squash down on baking tray. Bake for 10-13 minutes, depending on how chewy or firm you like your biscuits. I forgot about mine and so they ended up beautiful and brown and fragrant and firm like a rock (though still edible).

I promise to photograph mine next time, but really the most important thing about them is the smell. Baking lemon myrtle is the best.

lemon snickerdoodles

Over the weekend I was compelled to provide some sort of baked treat for a short-notice afternoon tea, and remembered this lemony snickerdoodle recipe that was originally posted by Em. A quick glance revealed I had all the required ingredients and, clad in my pyjamas, I felt ready to tackle this baking need.



I made a few modifications to this recipe. Chief amongst them is that I didn't finish with lemon icing, it was more of a lemon glaze - I suspect that the '3/4 of a lemon' that Em used was a little smaller than the lemon I picked up from the corner shop, because I tripled the icing sugar in the recipe and it was still gloopy. I ended up brushing the glaze onto the snickerdoodles, but don't fret - it all ended well. And now I have three quarters of a cup of lemon glaze in my fridge, if anyone has any ideas.

These went pretty soft very quickly - good for the day of, but not as amazing by the end of the second day. Just have to eat them quickly, what a hardship!

This is my second submission for the that recipe seems very familiar... blog event.

lemon snickerdoodles
originally from sugar spoons, modified from vegetarian times

the dough
1 3/4 cup plain flour
1/4 cornflour
1 teaspoon baking powder
30 grams nuttelex, softened
a smidge over a quarter of a cup of soy milk (with a few drops of vanilla extract mixed through)
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
quarter cup castor sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

the glaze
zest + juice of most of a medium to large lemon
a whole lot of icing sugar

method
Preheat the oven to 180C. Em suggested lining one baking tray, but I needed two (and got about 20 snickerdoodles out of it).

Beat together the nuttelex until it's soft, then beat in the sugar, followed by soymilk and vanilla essence. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, corn flour and baking powder, then slowly mix this all into the liquids until smooth. You may need to use your hands! Set aside to sit for ten minutes.

In a bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon.

Form the dough into 1 inch balls, roll into the cinnamon sugar, and place it on the tray. Flatten the cookies! Bake for 12-15 minutes, until the cookies are starting to go a little golden. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool for a bit.

Make the glaze! Combine lemon zest, lemon juice, and icing sugar until you're happy with the consistency. Brush (or dollop, if it's thick enough) onto the snickerdoodles, then sprinkle any remaining cinnamon sugar on top.

home cooked perth noms

The other thing I do when I'm in Perth is eat things that people cook especially for me.



I don't know how to describe my levels of excitement when these Welsh cakes appeared in front of me! I went for afternoon tea with the Ex-Laws, and Nan went to experimental lengths to make me vegan Welsh cakes, and apparently they were just as they should be! Certainly I found them just as they should be (delicious), and had to fend off non-vegan interlopers who could have had their pick of the raspberry slice she'd brought, or the cupcakes already there, and instead tried to eat all my Welsh cakes. They were SUPER DELICIOUS, I will have more please!



On my first night at my parents' house I was way too tired (after five days in the con hotel with (surprise!) not a lot of sleep) to actually go out for dinner, so I requested my mother make CKT for dinner. Which she did! I love it when my mum makes CKT, she makes a portion for every person because everyone wants it slightly different. But this means sometimes she forgets things from batch to batch: in my case, chilli.



On my last night staying with my parents, we decided to cook some curries and things. Featured here are a vegetable curry (cooked by mum); a chana masala (cooked by me); and some gailan and mushrooms. OH YEAH this is one of my favourite meal sets.

Thanks, Perth! As always you were delicious.

anzac biscuits + a bit of a ramble

We are a pretty big biscuit household, by which I mean: we really like them.



Last week was Anzac Day in Australia, and as we often do, we baked some Anzac biscuits. Actually we're quite obsessed with Anzac biscuits, and will happily eat commercially made biscuits all year round (some Woolies and Coles make vegan Anzac bikkies - in fact the Woolies near Brunswick Station has vegan Anzac biscuits in a normal size, and then non-vegan mini Anzacs).

Please note that by law, Anzac biscuits have to be referred to as biscuits. They're not allowed to be called cookies. There's also a specific list of ingredients, Anzac biscuits aren't allowed to have things added in, like sultanas. That makes them not Anzacs!

My favourite piece of the policy is this bit:

It should be noted that approvals for the word 'Anzac' to be used on biscuit products have been given provided that the product generally conforms to the traditional recipe and shape, is not advertised in any way that would play on Australia's military heritage, and is not used in association with the word 'cookies', with its non-Australian overtones. For instance, an application for Anzac biscuits dipped in chocolate would not be approved as they would not conform with the traditional recipe.

It's so strictly policed that Subway in Australia had to drop Anzac biscuits from their menu, because they couldn't make them close enough to the required ingredients.

So here is a legally allowed recipe! We got it from Deborah at Larvatus Prodeo, who got it from her mum. I reproduce it here now so I can access it all the time - this recipe worked out just great and now we have plans to bake as often as possible, because we love Anzac biscuits.

Also my sister makes a pretty awesome Anzac biscuit, the recipe which I will get from her one day. (hint)

Anzac Biscuits
originally posted by Deborah at Larvatus Prodeo

ingredients
1 cup plain flour
1 cup dessicated coconut
1 cup of sugar
1 cup rolled oats
125g nuttelex
large tablespoon golden syrup
1 tsp bicarb
2 tsp boiling water

method



Combine flour, oats, coconut and sugar in a large bowl. Melt together the nuttelex and the golden syrup - I did this by melting the nuttelex in the microwave, and mixing in the golden syrup. Dissolve the bicarb in the water, and when it has finished, mix it into the nuttelex and golden syrup. Now mix everything together! You may end up using your hands (I often do).

Deborah suggests dividing these out into approximately teaspoon sized balls, then squishing them down. But I am a big fan of larger Anzacs, so I suggest some large tablespoon (OR EVEN BIGGER) balls, then squishing them down.

Then bake them at 180C for about ten minutes. Let them sit for five before transferring to a cooling rack (this exercise really reminded me that I require a second of these). Store in an airtight container, unless you like your Anzacs soggy. Also don't store them in a container with some spare muffins, again, unless you like your Anzacs soggy.

EAT THEM.


not the right temperature

chocolate melting moments

When I'm feeling lonely I tend to do a lot of baking and cooking. I opened Vegan Indulgence twice this weekend, once for melting moments and once for chocolate berry cake. I love both of these recipes, even though something went wrong with the cake and it became fail cake (still delicious!).

choc-chip and coconut biscuits for in-flight nomming

D is heading off to a conference tomorrow, so I baked these for in-flight nomming. They will possibly (POSSIBLY) also be for sharing with D's colleagues, but although I baked two containers worth, it's a long flight, the biscuits might not all survive for arrival.



choc-chip and coconut biscuits

Be careful not to overbake these! They should be slightly golden on the base of the sides. They will still be soft when you pull them out, this is okay because they harden a little as they cool.

ingredients
2/3 tsp ground linseed
1 and 1/3 tsp hot water
third of a cup of nuttelex/marg
2 chinese soup spoons of apple sauce
1/2 cup castor sugar
1 cup raw sugar
1 tbl hot water
half teaspoon vanilla essence
2 tbl soy milk
2 and a half cups of plain flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup choc chips
one third of a cup of coconut flakes

method
Combine linseed and water. Leave to sit for ten minutes, then stir well for about five minutes. In a large bowl, beat together linseed and water mixture with applesauce, nuttelex, castor sugar and raw sugar. Mix well, then stir through vanilla essence, hot water, and soy milk.

In a smaller bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix into the liquid mixture, then add choc chips and coconut flakes. Mix until they're all well combined.

Roll into balls of about three centimetres in diameter, and dollop onto lined or greased baking trays. Keep the balls at least three centimetres apart from one another.

Bake at 195C for about fourteen or fifteen minutes.

leda golden crunch and choc chip biscuits

Leda makes these great gf fake tim-tams and mint slices. They're not identical, but they're better than nothing. I've blogged about them before!

D was out and about recently and found that Leda has started producing more varieties of biscuit.



These biscuits are okay, but not brilliant. Both the Golden Crunch and the Choc Chip are quite dry and flaky, and the Choc Chip leaves a funny aftertaste, I do wonder if it's due to the choc chips in the biscuit. It's nice to have a choc chip biscuit we can now buy in a shop, but my home made ones are far tastier, so I'll probably stick to just making them. These are about $5 a pack. D found them at Coles in Claremont Quarter.

chinese new year treats

Part of the joy of Chinese New Year is the treats we get, once a year sweets that are sugary and floury and coveted and difficult to make. I tried to make some kuih for the first time this year, they were a bit average but I've still got twelve days to go so that's plenty of time to try again.

A lot of kuih is vegan, except for that critical last second when an egg wash is used to give it that gloss. This year I discovered my very favourite lollies contain egg whites (no!), and all the great looking peanut cookies had an egg wash. The pineapple tarts were egg free, though, and delicious as always.



Love letters are my very favourite Chinese New Year treat. A batter is poured into hot iron moulds, they're difficult to make but the end result is a crispy wafer treat. I'm no where near ready to try making these kuih kapit, so it's a good thing they're readily available at Chinese New Year.



Kuih bangkit are a chalky coconut biscuit that disintegrates in your mouth. My mum usually buys the white ones, as a child they used to be shaped like birds with a little red dot for the eyes, and as a result my sister and I used to refer to them as death biscuits. I love their deliciousness, but they make your mouth stick together and I do wish they weren't quite so chalky!

I love this time of year, all the delicious treats and so much food. I wish some of these treats were available all year around!

anzac biscuits by sexy.greg

Went out this afternoon for a few hours of swing music, swing dancing and picnicking with some friends, down at the Subiaco Arts Centre Theatre Garden. We listened to the Darling Buds of May (D bought their CD) and nommed on delicious foods, mostly delicious foods that I spent an hour making this afternoon.

The courteous Dr Sexy.Greg (PhD) slightly altered the traditional Anzac biscuit recipe to provide us with very tasty sultana containing Anzac biscuits. Although the DVA may declare these not-quite Anzac biscuits, they were still very tasty, and would probably hold up well to the requisite sending overseas.

These biscuits were incredibly delicious, and I am glad my omni friends can accommodate us so delightfully.